Hotbox (45 page)

She laughed
out loud
just
as Shawn was walking
by. “What about the dugout?” he asked, eyeing us both. Jayden just smiled
with embarrassment
and dropped her head against me.

An announcement came from the stage, introducing Shawn Mason. As the crowd welcomed the band
,
the guys turned to head up the steps onto the stage. Shawn turned to impatiently wait for Jayden, so I gave her one last kiss on the temple and whispered, “The dugout.”

With a
very big smile she followed them
onto the stag
e.
I had to laugh when I heard
her
remind Shawn that there were
children
in the audience
, so he needed to hold back on the swearing and crass jokes
.

I exhaled, almost feeling like she had passed her nerves onto me. If that was the case, I was glad. I didn’t want her to feel anxious.

I made my way back to the front of the stage. The crowd was still cheering as the band got comfortable with their instruments. Jayden saw me move through the
crowd
and she gave me a smile. She was absolutely
beautiful up there
. The four of them made a really great combination, n
ot only musically, but visually
as well. I wasn’t sure what it was, but they really seemed to click in all aspects.
They looked like they belonged together.

They opened the show with a performance of
“
You
Really Got Me
.
”
But Jayden’s version was closer to the Van Halen version, which rocked a little harder
and soared a little faster. When the first few notes were hit, the crowd went crazy.

There was a mix of people in the audience: families with young kids, teenagers, middle-aged music lovers,
and even grandparents. Thos
e that celebrated the music more
actively
were down in front of the stage, but the entire park was filled as far as I could see with people sitting on blankets or chairs that they had brought.

Cali and Stacie were pretty funny.
They obviously enjoyed being down with the action. During the first song we were joined by other people that knew
the
band, and I was most shocked when Jayden’s
father
appeared
with a woman I knew was
Charlotte
.

“What?” he asked with a s
mile
. “This is the best stuff to hear.”

Obviously each of Jayden’s friends had their own favorites to hear. Each one of them responded to different songs, especially when Shawn would talk to them during the show.
Shawn
really was a great performer, b
ut the band as a whole was incredible. He introduced the band after the third song and had very nice things to say about them all. But with Jayden he had to claim she was his favorite since she was prettier than the others. That got a laugh, especially when Shawn looked over at our group and said, “
Sorry, Ty, but I
knew
her first.”

“Ooh, you earned a comment from the man himself,” Cali teased.

“Is that supposed to be a
n honor
?” I asked with a smile.

“Shawn seems to think so,” Joe replied dryly.

Shawn announced his favorite part of the show was next, which was when Jayden sang. Cali and Stacie were screaming their he
ads off and jumping up and down when
Jayden stepped up to the
mic
and smiled.

“Okay,
but
I need everyone to sing along,” she told the audience, and the band began
“I L
ove Rock ‘N Roll
.”
And people
did sing along—v
ery loudly. If the crowd wasn’t already involved in the show, they certainly were now. After that they did
“
Carry On My Wayward Son
,”
and Shawn’s voice really made it sound awesome. They did
“
Piec
e of My Heart
”
as a joint effort, and I felt anytime the two of them sang together, their voices really made it extraordinary
.
A
nd
“
Crazy Train
”
… That was just…
insane
.
Just the music itself was amazing and the crowd’s response was tremendous.
Most of what they played was loud rock, but they also played a couple of mellow songs like
“
Rockin
’ in the Free World
”
and
“
Give a Little Bit
.
”
But anything they did, the crowd loved.

They played an hour of music like they were supposed to, but Shawn claimed they had a
nother song
in them if anyone wanted to hear
it
. He kind of took a poll from the audience
to see what they wanted the band to play
, and t
here
was
quite an array of requests. Finally after joking about this or that over certain songs, he looked at Jayden.

“What do you think?
‘Wild Thing’
or
‘
Don’t Stop
Believin
’
‘
?”

With a
smile she replied, “Mmm, h
ow ‘bout we try both?”

T
hat got a good response, so Jay
den switched her guitar for the
fifth
time to do
Wild Thing
.

“This song is actually about Jayden,” Shawn teased, and the audience laughed.

She scoffed and shook her head. “Shawn sings this song in the mirror,” she replied, and everyone laughed louder.

After
“
Wild Thing
”
—with lots of crowd participation
shouting the chorus
—they did do
“
Don’t Stop
Believin
’
”
(also with crowd participation).
The ending was fantastic and it closed the show well.
I couldn’t even f
athom how good Jayden was on stage
. Everything they had played impressed me, but the array of songs they performed really showed how talented the band was. And I loved the songs that Jayden sang, or when she sang with Shawn.

I was blown away
.

“What’d you think?” Cali asked, as if she could read my mind.

“I’m speechless
. They’re incredible.”

She
pretty much
beamed with pride.

After the band left the stage, an announcement went out that Shawn Mason and his band would be performing another show at nine o’clock.
Most of the people were now moving about. I couldn’t tell if people were coming or going, but I noticed that there were
now
a lot more twenty-somethings and teenagers around us since some of the other people had left. I was assuming they were getting ready for the next show.

I talked with Joe and
Charlotte
for a
few minutes. They were
stay
ing
for the second show, but were going to move further out, away from the mob of anxious music lovers. For now they were waiting for Jayden to come out
so they could talk to her
.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder so I turned around to face Jack and Megan.

“Hey, you guys!
It’s nice to see you.”

“You too, buddy,” Jack replied. “That was
one wicked show. I
’m impressed.”

“Yeah, I kind of am as well,” I
confessed
. “I’m glad you could make it
.” I made sure everyone was acquainted as we all made our way toward the side of the stage. “So the big day is approaching, huh?” I asked, glancing between the two of them.

“Yes, it is,” Megan replied, smiling at Jack. “Two more weeks.”

They both seemed really excited, and for a moment, I was even jealous.

I was glad when Jayden appeared. She greeted everyone and was bombarded with hugs from her friends and family. Her dad and
Charlotte
spoke to her for a minute and then they left us. She turned to me with an expectant smile, and I was happy to take her in my arms and give her a hug.

It was Jayden’s desire to sit for a while, and I felt we all agreed since we’d been sta
nding
as well. After finding a vacant picnic table
, we all sat and conversed, mainly about the show.

“It’s kind of odd that I have to go back up there,” Jayden
admitted
. “I’m not sure I’ve ever done two separate shows in one evening.
I’m a little surprised they expected it of us.”

Shawn didn’t even try to hide his guilty face. “They didn’t,” he
admitted with a smile
.

“What do you mean?” Jayden asked him.

“Well, it was kind of my idea.” When Jayden raised her eyes at him he said, “They wanted both types of music split into an hour-and-a-half show. I sort of suggested it might be better to separate the two. I said my band was plenty talented to be ready for that much music,” he added with a big smile.
“And we get paid more.”

“Ah, I see,” Jayden smiled. “That’s just like you, always trying to find a way to be on stage longer.”

He laughed in agreement
, but as soon as someone called
his name from a distance, he disappeared
.

I had been carrying Jayden’s phone for her in my pocket, and I f
elt it vibrate for the
third time. I pulled it out and glanced at it before handing it to her.
             
“Some guy named
Nick
keeps calling you,” I told her.
He had called twice right after the show was done, but Jayden hadn’t come out yet.

I was surprised when she grabbed the phone at lightning speed, completely excited.

“Hey!” she
answered
right away. She listened for a few seconds before she asked, “Seriously?” She stood up
on the bench
and looked around. “If you look toward the stage, I’m about thirty yards to the right… Yeah… Do you see the picnic
tables
? …
Yeah, I see you. At least I think that’s you,
” she laughed.
She hung up the phone and said, “I’ll be right back.”

Cali had been talking with Stacie at the time, but she noticed as soon as Jayden left.

“Where’s she
headed
?” she asked.

“
To
Nick
, I guess.”

She looked confused for a second, but when she looked ahead to where Jayden was, her mouth hung open. “
No way
!”
Both she and Stacie became really excited, and Matt rolled his eyes with a smile.

Jayden stopped in front of some guy and he put his arms around her in a big embrace. I was instantly jealous, even though I had no idea who this guy was or why he was here. I could barely even see him; he was wearing a hat and it was also covered with the hood from his sweatshirt.

“
Is she gonna bring him over here
?” Cali asked me. “She’s not gonna horde him all to herself, is she?”

I had no idea what she was even talking about until the guy’s name suddenly hit me.
Nick
. The same
Nick
she said she was going to invite to the show? I looked at the other guy that was with him, and I thought I recognized him from a photo that Jayden had showed me. I think he was
the
drummer
.

Jayden returned to our group with the two guys in tow. She introduced everyone by first names, but she didn’t even say anything about who the two
of them
really were.
I didn’t think Jack and Megan had a clue, but they were sitting at the end of the bench, busy talking to Chris. Chris seemed familiar with
Nick
, but after a few words of basic conversation, he allowed Jayden the time with him.
Nick
had removed his hood by then and I felt a little uneasy. It was odd seeing him up close
, and that h
e seemed to know my girlfriend
pretty well
. And…i
t didn’t help when Cali kept mumbling how hot he was.